Volleyball Headline

Friday November 19, 2010No. 1 Gators Secure 2010 SEC Title Outright

Senior
Florida outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) turned in her
third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs as the No. 1
Florida volleyball team clinched the 2010 Southeastern Conference Championship
outright with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-11, 25-20) victory against Arkansas on
Friday evening in Barnhill Arena.

The
Gators (25-1, 18-0 SEC), who out-blocked the Razorbacks 7.0-1.0 over the final
two sets of the match, extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive
25-win seasons to 20 with Friday’s victory. Florida, which utilized a balanced
offensive effort that saw six players record eight or more kills in the match,
hit .331 for the match, marking the 14th time this season that the Gators have
hit .300 or better in a single match.

“Typical
of SEC road matches, Arkansas played very well against us, especially in set
two,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “I thought our team really
responded, specifically in sets three and four, and the difference in the match
was really our defense and blocking.”

Florida,
which clinched a share of the league crown last Sunday, secured the 2010
conference championship with Friday’s win. The Gators have two matches
remaining in the 2010 regular season, including Sunday’s 2 p.m. ET contest at
LSU. The league title is the 19th in Florida volleyball history, which leads
the SEC for most volleyball conference championships.

“Earning
the SEC title is something that the players will take with them for a long time
and is something that is part of the legacy of our senior class,” Wise said. “But
we also know we have a lot of our goals still in front of us.”

In
the match, the Gators out-blocked the Razorbacks 10.0-5.0, marking the 13th
time this season that Florida has reached double-figure block totals and the
fourth time in the last five matches.

Rivers
scored a team-high 14.0 points with her 11 kills and 10 digs to complement a
team-high two service aces. Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton,
Colo.) added 11 kills and eight digs to go along with three blocks.

Junior
right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) charted her 13th
consecutive double-double and her 21st double-dip of the year, just missing a
triple-double with nine kills on .333 hitting with 21 assists and 11 digs to
complement four blocks.

The
two teams battled evenly to begin the first set before an Arkansas block and a
Jaeckel attack error gave the Razorbacks an early 5-3 advantage. Murphy and
Jaeckel responded with back-to-back kills that sparked a 3-0 Florida run and
gave the Gators a 6-5 lead. Arkansas answered with a 3-0 run of its own, that
was capped off by a kill from Jasmine Norton that allowed the Razorbacks to
reclaim the lead at 8-6. Following two more ties, a Rivers kill and a Fleming
ace jumpstarted a 4-0 Florida run that put the Gators back in front at 12-9 and
forced Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza to burn an early timeout.

Out
of the break, the UF utilized a 3-1 run to widen its edge to five, 15-10. From
there, Arkansas scored two in a row, but a Rivers kill and a ball-handling
error on the Razorbacks put Florida ahead 17-12 heading into another timeout. The
Gators then used a 3-0 run that began with a block by Anderson and Murphy and
ended with a Rivers ace that extended Florida’s advantage to eight, 20-12. The two
squads traded points to conclude the set, as a Rivers put-down finished off the
25-17 first-set victory. The Gators limited the Razorbacks to just a .087
hitting efficiency in the opening frame and Rivers was a perfect 5-of-5
offensively.

Florida
and Arkansas traded points to open the second set before the Razorbacks took a
7-5 lead after a kill by Charmaine Whitmore and a service ace by Brooke
Fournier. Back-to-back kills by Wiggs and Anderson knotted the score at 7-all. A
Rivers kill put Florida ahead 8-7 before a net violation on the Gators again
tied the score. From there, a Norton kill and an attack error by Anderson
allowed Arkansas to reclaim the lead at 10-8. That was the start of a 3-0
Razorback run that forced Wise to burn her first timeout of the match.

Out
of the break, Florida employed a 4-1 run that tied the score at 12-all and
caused an Arkansas timeout. Following five more ties, Arkansas’ Norton and
Amanda Anderson charted back-to-back kills that gave the Razorbacks a 19-17
lead heading into a UF timeout. From there, the teams traded points Trailing
21-18, the Gators ran off four consecutive points, capped off by an Anderson
kill to give Florida a 22-21 advantage. After four more ties, kills by Whitmore
and Norton on back-to-back plays gave Arkansas the 27-25 second-set victory. The
two squads were nearly even statistically in the second frame.

The
Gators opened up to a 3-1 advantage to start the third set thanks to a kill by
Jaeckel and a block solo by Rivers. After Arkansas cut within one, 3-2, the
Gators ran off four consecutive points, capped off by a powerful block on the
right side by Anderson and Murphy to extend UF’s lead to five, 7-2. Florida
kept rolling to a 9-3 lead on a Jaeckel kill and went ahead 12-5 after a Murphy
kill and a Norton attack error. That was the spark of a 5-0 Florida run that
gave the Gators a 14-5 lead on back-to-back put-downs by Murphy and Bledsoe.

A
kill by Rivers and a block by Bledsoe and Jaeckel ended Florida’s seven-point
scoring spree with the Gators ahead 16-5. The two teams began trading points until
a block solo by Jaeckel and a kill from Bledsoe pushed Florida in front 19-7. Ahead
21-11, the Gators scored four consecutive points to close out the 25-11
third-set win, which concluded with back-to-back Florida blocks. The Gators
out-blocked the Razorbacks 6.0-0.0 in the third frame.

After
the squads battled evenly to begin the fourth frame, the Gators took a 5-3 lead
after a Wiggs kill and an attack error by Norton. Florida kept rolling to a 7-4
advantage before Arkansas whittled its deficit down to two, 8-6 A Jaeckel kill
on the outside stopped the Gators’ scoring drought and Florida built its lead
to 11-7. The Razorbacks got a kill from Norton and an ace by Raymariely Santos
to cut within two, 11-9.

Florida
answered with a Jaeckel kill and a ball-handling error against Arkansas to widen
its advantage to four, 13-9, heading into a timeout by the Razorbacks. The
Gators kept rolling, extending their lead to six, 16-10, on a Wiggs kill and an
attack error by Kelli Stipanovich. Out of the break, Arkansas ran off two
points in a row before a Rivers kill stopped the Razorbacks’ scoring streak
with Florida up 17-12. The two squads began trading points, but Arkansas would
get no closer than three, 23-20. A Razorback attack error and a Jaeckel kill
gave the Gators the 25-20 fourth-set victory.

Florida
returns to action on Sunday when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on No.
16 LSU. Opening serve in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is slated for 2 p.m.
ET and the match will be carried live on Cox Sports Television and on WRUF
Sports Radio 850 with Tom Collett.

For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please
log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/GatorMary.